Levi's Flat Eric to be Resurrected in Short Film

Flat Eric, the iconic puppet made famous via a Levi’s jeans commercial, is making a comeback. The puppet that stormed TV screens--and the charts via a hit single by Mr Oizo--is due to be resurrected in a short film.

Flat Eric's reappearance mirrors the trend in advertising, TV and film to recreate or remake icons and ideas of the past--such as Fame, Transformers, and the return of the PG Tips Monkey who previously fronted advertising for failed UK TV service ITV Digital.

Wieden & Kennedy’s Tony Davidson and Kim Papworth are understood to be working on a Flat Eric project--said to be a short film unconnected to Levi’s--together with its creator Quentin Dupieux, who also operates under his musical pseudonym Mr Oizo.

Production company Partizan, which co-owns the rights to Flat Eric with Dupieux, is also involved. Flat Eric was based on a puppet called Stephane that was similar but with ears and who appeared in a series of short films by Mr Oizo.